30 Pieces Of A Pack
by psycochick32
Summary: Centuries together create an unbreakable friendship between InuYasha & Miroku. Written for the LiveJournal community "30 Shards," these glimpses take place in the "Pack Law" universe.
1. Wrong

Written for the LiveJournal Community 30 Shards: Shard 04 - Kiss

Title: Wrong  
Character/Pairing: Miroku + InuYasha  
Rating: X  
Squicks: Lemon-ish Content Ahoy (hetero)  
Summary: He always warned the women; it was nothing personal… they just weren't _her._

Universe: Takes place in the "Pack Law" universe, between the Sengoku Jidai & the Modern Age

He kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to see her face, didn't want to acknowledge that her eyes were the wrong color.

_He held the woman close, feeling the softness of her hair against his chin. He was always so attracted to shorter women…_

In a rare reversal, he thanked the kami for the moonless night. He could tell, _only faintly_, that her scent was wrong.

_She shifted on his lap, lifting her head to capture his lips, muffling his groan as he sunk into her._

He couldn't tell her taste – his mouth still stung from the sake he'd practically inhaled that night. It was better that way.

_Her breasts were heavy in his hands. Nipples pebbled under his touch; tiny hairs on her skin rose as he caressed her chin, her throat, her collarbone with his lips. He dragged his head lower, trailing down to trace his tongue around one dark areola, suckling her._

Her skin was courser, but that meant little to his less-sensitive senses.

_He pushed her onto her back; lust turned into rage as his eyes raked over her unfamiliar face. Reaching out, he rolled her over and brought her to her knees, slamming into her at a punishing pace._

Though she could not bite back her breathy moans, she never said a word. For that, InuYasha thanked Miroku. He always warned the women; it was nothing personal… they just weren't _her._

_It seemed like no time at all before she gripped him with a shout, pulling him over the edge with her. Panting, he rolled himself to the side of the bed, facing away from her. Fuck her if she was upset. Feh, he wasn't the type to cuddle. There was only one person he wanted in his arms…_

His body was satisfied. His mind, no longer clouded with lust or alcohol, turned to less-pleasant thoughts.

_He laid there, eyes unseeing, long after she had drifted to sleep._

The sky was lightening; he was in the shower, washing off her stench before his enhanced senses could return. Miroku met him in the lobby of the hotel, swinging his keys around a finger as the dark-haired man grew closer, face blank.

'_For one night, at least,'_ Miroku mused, _'he can forget her…'_

A/N:

There you have it – the truth behind those "trysts" InuYasha had…

Major thanks to the amazing Phalon and angelica incarnate for helping me mold this little one-shot into what I hoped it could be.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the anime/manga. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	2. In Dreams

Written for the LiveJournal Community 30 Shards: Shard 14 - Whispers

Title: In Dreams  
Character/Pairing: Miroku + InuYasha  
Rating: T for suggestive comments  
Squicks: None  
Summary: As his beta, it is my duty to steer him and our pack in the direction most likely to benefit us. As his friend, I find it my wish to put a smile on his face.

Universe: Takes place in the "Pack Law" Universe, between the Sengoku Jidai & the Modern Age

His ears flick back and forth as he slumbers, lying across his desk. Hanyou don't need much sleep, but even they can be dragged to the land of dreams with enough sleepless nights… and copious amounts of alcohol.

It's rather amusing. He can withstand poison claws through the stomach. He fights through injuries that would often make full-blooded youkai back down. He eats enough to sustain a small village, when the cooks let him. But he still can't hold his sake…

"K'gome…" InuYasha's voice is soft, strained. His ears are flattened down on his head – a sure sign of distress.

I pretend I don't hear him. A few centuries ago, I would have teased him mercilessly, and risked a pounding. It would have been funny then. Now, it's simply sad.

As our friendship grows with the years, so too does my understanding of our hanyou. Yes, _our_ hanyou. As a pack, he is fond of saying, we are his. That means he is ours. Ours to care for, ours to protect and be protected by in turn.

As his beta, it is my duty to steer him and our pack in the direction most likely to benefit us. One could say I was destined for this fate; I certainly have had much practice ensuring my endeavors profit myself. Now, I simply expand on the concept to ensure we're all well-cared for.

As his friend, I find it my wish to put a smile on his face. Sango and I often discuss how it seems everything positive in our life was due to InuYasha and the happy miko from the future. We only wish we could return the favor, return the twinkle to his eyes he always tried to hard to hide.

He hasn't properly smiled… that fangy _'I'll-kill-you-if-you-mess-with-me'_ smirk Kagome seemed to so easily elicit… since the well was sealed.

I tried to help him move on, to find a woman worthy of him. He'll only go with them on the night of the new moon, though. I suggested he go out one night as a hanyou…

That was the first time in a long while he ever transformed. I escaped intact only because of the lessons we've all received in Pack Law. InuYasha's instincts kept me from losing my head… I never realized how much InuYasha's youkai side cared for Kagome. I thought he'd ignore her, as a human… or perhaps he'd want to kill her, as a miko. Instead, he called her his "mate" and refused to have anything to do with other women… youkai, hanyou or human.

I don't think InuYasha remembers the incident clearly. I avoid talking about it… just like I avoid talking about Kagome.

He insists he's forgotten _her._ He refuses to use her name in polite conversation, though we all know who he's referring to. Shippou aside, we generally abide by his rules. It's better to avoid those memories – they send him into bad moods ranging from rage to depression for days on end.

"K'gome… stay…" I ignore his whispers in the dark.

It's easier this way… for all of us, except for him.

A/N:

No, really, there ARE happy times Miroku and InuYasha lived through… I just haven't gotten around to writing 'em yet!

That being said, the InuYasha Fan Guild (IYFG) has opened nominations for their 4th Quarter 2008 Awards. If you're a fan of a specific work (be it my own or otherwise), head on over to the guild and make a nomination… and hang around to vote. :)

Head to for more information.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the anime/manga. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	3. The Stuff of Legends

Written for the LiveJournal Community 30 Shards: Shard #1 - Legend

Title: The Stuff of Legends  
Character/Pairing: Miroku + InuYasha  
Rating: PG  
Squicks: None  
Summary: A living legend learns of how others see his history… and his future.

Universe: Takes place in the "Pack Law" Universe, between the Sengoku Jidai & the Modern Age

The group crested the hill, InuYasha motioning for most of the youkai in the party to fall back. The motion was lost on the humans, who gazed over what used to be a small village in awe.

They hadn't been back in decades; Kaede's death had hit them all hard. Even Shippou had abandoned his post in the village, convinced by Miroku that it had been so long, Kagome obviously wasn't coming back.

InuYasha had even tried the well again; nobody admitted to having seen it, but it was the best illustration Shippou had to realizing that his foster-mother was not going to come back through the magic well.

Now, though, they'd come on an important mission. Word was that priests and priestesses had been working together to build a Shinto shrine near Edo and had been razing part of the forest.

InuYasha needed to see for himself: was this Kagome's shrine? He needed to see with his own two eyes that the well not be touched, that Goshinboku stay unmarred by anything but time.

So they gathered themselves together (with a suitable youkai crew to guard them, though InuYasha had protested that they didn't need it) and set out for the village.

The changes were staggering. What was once a tiny village was now undeniably a prospering city. Asking around, Miroku learned that the shrine once in residence near Kaede's hut had burned in a bandit attack. That, and the stories passed down about Urasue's attack on Kikyou's gravesite, had convinced the current miko that the site was unfavorable to the kami.

The new shrine was being built near the well.

"Why?" InuYasha asked gruffly. It'd been a question he always wanted answered. The beautiful area in his time had been a place of worship in Kagome's. What had sparked the change? Why were the priestesses so adamant about protecting Goshinboku? And why would they allow the well to remain intact when it obviously held no water and youkai were slipping into myth for most humans?

An old priest smiled, nearly toothless in age, and beckoned for the group to sit. It was a mark of Shippou's ingenuity (or the priest's lack of power) that nobody seemed to catch on that there were two youkai and a hanyou in their midst.

After indulging in a small bit of sake to wet his throat, the priest launched into what appeared to be a well-rehearsed tale. "About 80 years ago, or so the records say, a hanyou boy fell in love with a miko."

At InuYasha's twitch, the old man nodded wisely. "Aye, I know. 'Tis a weird thing to happen – the two should have been enemies, especially given the hanyou's history."

Miroku and Sango shared a glance. They'd thought the story would have started out with Kikyou…

"The hanyou was betrayed by the first miko friend he made. He was going to marry her, even, but she was tricked and turned on him, believing he had attacked her first. She died after sealing him to the tree." He gazed at the tree, visible from the half-built shrine, with something akin to awe. "The records say the hanyou hung there, suspended, for fifty years. He did not wither with hunger or thirst. The kami must have smiled upon him, though his fate looked to be unkind, for after fifty years, another miko arrived."

The priest's gaze swung to where the well sat, blocked by a wall. "The scrolls left behind do not say much about the girl-miko, though they say she freed the hanyou, bound him, and slowly healed his heart. Some say she lived in the well; others say she was a foreigner who simply found the well a place of comfort."

Miroku spoke up as the priest fell silent. "So the tree remains, considered sacred because of how it kept the hanyou alive?" He ignored InuYasha's snort.

The priest nodded. "Aye. Some rumors even say it is a Tree of Ages, though most scholars find it preposterous. The well is supposedly made from the tree, too, and some believe it gives the well magical properties."

InuYasha rolled his eyes. "There ain't nothin' special about that well," he asserted, though the humans in his pack could feel how much of a lie it was.

"That's merely one man's opinion," the priest gently chided. "For some, following the kami and ancestors provides all the hope they need to get through life." Brown eyes narrowed on InuYasha. "For others, though… the kami are revered because they are a source of _hope_. Your life will be very bleak indeed if you have nothing in the future to look forward to."

The group basked in this knowledge for a moment before Sango finally asked a question.

"What happened to the hanyou and the miko?"

The priest smiled. "The scrolls don't say. I like to hope that wherever they are, they are together… or will be, in the end. Along with the Shikon no Tama, it's one of the region's most famous legends… and I am honored to have spoken with one," he said with a bow, shooing the group from the shrine as the builders came back from their break.

InuYasha blinked... then snorted skeptically, stomping out of the shrine proper with his arms crossed and a dark glower on his face. But his heart would not allow him to walk away without standing beneath the sacred tree just one more time...


	4. Livelihood

Subject: Miroku + InuYasha – Shard 12: Advice

Title: Livelihood  
Character/Pairing: Miroku + InuYasha  
Rating: G  
Squicks: None  
Summary: Miroku embarks on a new career path

Universe: Takes place in the "Pack Law" Universe, between the Sengoku Jidai & the Modern Age

Miroku pinched the bridge of his nose, reminding himself that though beating the hanyou with his staff was great stress relief, it wouldn't encourage his alpha to make the decision any faster.

"Listen, all I'm saying is that somebody here needs to be able to patch everybody up. It would be a wise move for all of us," he wheedled, steeling himself against the disapproving look etched into InuYasha's face.

"I don't see what all the fuckin' fuss is about, Miroku. So we get banged up a bit, so the fuck what? We heal and move on. Even you, Sango, Kohaku and Rin heal fast 'cuz of the talismans."

'_Okay, maybe beating him to a pulp would demonstrate the need for proper health care.'_

"Do you remember the fight last year between the serpent youkai and that dragon?" InuYasha nodded warily. "Remember how we had to claim it was a gas leak?" InuYasha bobbed his head again, completely clueless as to where his beta was going with this. "Humans were hurt in that battle, InuYasha. Innocent bystanders. Two _died_ because they were poisoned and there was nowhere for them to go. If we open this hospital, we could cater to those people who get caught in the middle of _our_ wars."

InuYasha shifted uneasily. It'd never sat well with him that people got caught in the middle of youkai affairs, and Miroku knew it. Seeing his advantage, he pressed harder.

"How many people are we just going to let die? I know that most of the Council views most humans as useless creatures, but we have enough support to build the hospital. We just need people willing to train in both human and youkai medicine."

"And you think you fit their needs," InuYasha surmised. "Why? You've never really been interested before."

Miroku pinched his lips together. _'How to word this…'_ The plain fact of the matter was that Kagome had intrigued him all those years ago, bringing back anti-venom and what seemed at the time like magic cures for their many bumps, scrapes and bruises. When she'd left, they'd learned to get by with Kaede's help, but this… this would be filling Kagome's shoes.

Then again, Miroku wondered if that was why InuYasha was so reluctant to allow somebody that privilege. It was a matter of necessity outweighing loyalty in the hanyou's mind…

"It's something we need to do," Miroku finally said. "And everybody here has a profession but me. Sango hunts for you, you're Sesshomaru's beta." He forced a smile, "There're fewer people to con these days, and less of a need to do it. Sure, my powers as a monk are still needed sometimes, but it's becoming a rarity outside battle. Plus," he said, choosing his words _very_ carefully, "Sango thinks it's about time to start thinking of a family, now that we know where most of the remaining jewel shards are."

InuYasha's ears twitched; a sure sign of distress, Miroku shifted uncomfortably. Family was a topic they usually tried to avoid. Rin had given birth to Kohaku's son just the year before, however, and Sango was somewhat disconcerted that her brother would be a father before she became a mother.

Nonetheless, InuYasha was thinking about it, and Miroku had to be honest with the hanyou. "My nephew is old enough that Kohaku can take Sango's place hunting while she's pregnant." Though it chafed the taijya, Sesshoumaru's edict that pregnant women remain out of danger was indisputable.

"Opening the hospital would provide her with the care she needs. The youki is changing her; it's changing all of us, and you know it could raise questions with a normal, human doctor. Rin was lucky enough to have Lord Sesshoumaru's staff to tend her. But the old inu-youkai passed away last month; who will look over Sango?"

InuYasha nodded slowly, obviously rolling the idea around in his head. His friends were his most important focus; seeing Sango healthy outweighed the need to keep Kagome's "profession" sacrosanct in his mind.

"So you want to open the hospital and… go to school? Ain't medical school expensive?"

Miroku shot his friend a dry look. If there was one thing the pack would never have to worry about, it was money.

InuYasha shrugged, "Even if it ain't a concern, you'll be doing a lot of class stuff… like _she_ always had to. What if I need to send you to help on a hunt? What if I need you as a beta?"

Miroku schooled his face into a calm expression that belied the irritation he was feeling. "I am confident in my ability to do the work efficiently. I am quite a fast learner, if I do say so myself, and so don't think it would be a problem to miss a few classes here and there as necessary."

InuYasha opened his mouth, perhaps to contradict Miroku, but the monk jumped in again, having thought of something else, "And odds are that any child of mine could have holy powers. It would give us another person – if he or she is willing to be trained – to go out on hunts as necessary."

The hanyou didn't like it; that much was obvious. However, not for nothing was Miroku considered the group's smooth-talker. InuYasha couldn't see a way around it and sighed.

"I'll talk to Sesshoumaru about it. If he agrees to support the hospital, we'll send you to medical school. But we'd better damn well see a return on the investment or I'll leave you to his mercies."

Miroku cringed at the thought. _'Time to get studying…'_


	5. Kotodama

Written for the LiveJournal Community 30 Shards: Shard #8 – Revenge

Title: Kotodama  
Character/Pairing: Miroku + InuYasha  
Rating: K+ (language)  
Squicks: None  
Summary: InuYasha and Miroku discuss the events of the third movie

Universe: Takes place in the "Pack Law" Universe, between the Sengoku Jidai & the Modern Age

"Oh, where the heck did that go?"

Behind their barrier, InuYasha tried not to boggle and Miroku openly ogled Kagome… well, her shapely rear as she crawled under the bench near Goshinboku, in search of a bead that had rolled away.

"Ah ha!"

As Kagome celebrated her success, InuYasha thwapped Miroku on the back of the head for his blatant appreciation. "Keep your eyes to yourself, lech!"

"But InuYasha, I am not nearly so-" Miroku bit his tongue as InuYasha growled. "Sorry."

"Y'are not."

"I am so! How dare you besmirch my reputation-"

"As a lech?" InuYasha finished dryly.

Miroku feigned hurt for a few moments before turning back to where the miko had resumed restringing the kotodama.

"It always amazes me, how the time stream operates," Miroku mused. "There she is, placing beads on a necklace, while those same beads sit around your neck, not 30 yards away."

InuYasha grunted, eyes narrowed on those damn beads. It had taken the two a while to figure out where in the timeline Kagome was in… after listening in on her tales to her brother, they discovered she had just survived the encounter with the revived Takemaru and sealing Sou'unga.

Seeing his hanyou companion was in no mood to chat, Miroku subsided. They listened to Kagome whistling a happy tune. Mrs. Higurashi called Kagome in for dinner just as she finished. With a happy chirp she stood, laying her handiwork on the bench before skipping inside.

The two men stood silently for a moment, before InuYasha finally spoke up. "I wonder if I destroyed the beads there now, if the ones here," he tugged on his necklace, "would disappear."

"Probably not best to test it," Miroku responded dryly.

InuYasha snorted. After a couple seconds, he added, "Why did she do it?"

"Do what?" Even after half a millennium with his alpha, the hanyou managed to confound Miroku more often than not. This was one of those times.

InuYasha motioned to the necklace. "Put the kotodama back together. Didn't she trust me? Was it some sort of payback for something?"

Miroku blinked. "You know Kagome was never like that… well, much. Especially considering she was – is – a teenage girl. No, can't you imagine why?"

"Obviously not, or I wouldn't have asked."

"Point taken." Miroku thought about it for a while. "Did she ever give you a hint as to why?"

"So I wouldn't 'run off on my own again,'" InuYasha mimicked. "Whatever that means."

"Well, you did," Miroku pointed out. "Left us behind and everything. Kagome just wanted to help. Have you ever thought that no other miko has been able to use the kotodama?"

InuYasha mulled that over for a bit. "Not really. Never really thought about it. Well – that ain't true. Kaede put the thing on me."

"True, but she couldn't use it."

"Yeah, so?"

"I think-" Miroku took a deep breath before forging on, "I think Kagome saw it as a connection between the two of you. Yeah, she used it quite a bit, but she got better. And nobody else could do it… and it saved your life a few times, if I recall."

InuYasha grunted again, glaring as Kagome rushed out of the house to snag the necklace. He watched as his younger self bounded from the well, hollering for Kagome to "hurry her ass up." For a moment, the young hanyou turned curiously to where the two men stood, scent- and sound-blocked by Miroku's wards.

After a few tentative sniffs, the younger InuYasha whirled to snag Kagome by the wrist, hauling her bag over one shoulder and her over his other (she merely giggled) and leaping back into the well.

As the magic faded, Miroku and InuYasha stepped toward the shrine stairs.

Miroku peered at his friend out of the corner of his eye. InuYasha didn't notice; his gaze was glued to his fingers… which rolled the beads of the necklace thoughtfully.


End file.
